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There’s a Twitter meme thing going around that looks intriguing; I decided to answer it here, in long-form, because (a) there’s more room and (b) I don’t have enough of a Twitter presence to get very far otherwise. But I’m too lazy to get screenshots, so, deal.

Very first videogame is most likely Combat, the game that came bundled with my Atari 2600.

Do I have a favorite character? It’s probably Wheatley from Portal 2. Also enjoyed my time with Niko Bellic in GTA 4.

A game that is underrated…. I think Split/Second was a pretty fantastic racing game that not nearly enough people played.

Guilty pleasure game…. I don’t know that I have one, now, unless you count my ongoing addiction to Clicker Heroes, which I’ve had running on a work browser for over a year. Or any of the Candy Crush Saga games that I still have on my iPhone. A couple years ago I would’ve said DOA Beach Volleyball, but that game started to creep me out.

I don’t know that I’ve ever related to a video game character, because most videogame characters are trying to kill other people with guns. That said, I am virtually the same age as the player / older sister in Gone Home, and I certainly related to a lot of what she discovered as she explored her house.

Most annoying character… how about literally everybody in every Metal Gear Solid game?

Favorite game couple… ??? I suspect I haven’t played enough JRPGs from the mid 90s in order to properly answer this question. I’m hardpressed to think of anything I’ve played in the last 5-10 years that would satisfactorily answer this question. Well, maybe Geralt and Yennifer, from Witcher 3.

Best soundtrack… I’m gonna go a little bit out of left field here and say Jim Guthrie’s astounding soundtrack to Sword & Sworcery, with Disasterpeace’s work for Fez as a very close runner-up. And I’ll also say that Voodoo Vince has one of the most overlooked soundtracks of all time.

Saddest game scene… again, probably not enough JRPGs in my mental library to call anything up that fits the bill, and I’m having a hard time recalling anything else that might fit the bill. It is exceedingly rare for me to have any true and genuine emotional responses to games these days, and I don’t know if that’s me just being old or if it’s me wanting to play games for other reasons beyond narrative.

Best gameplay… how does one answer this question in 140 characters? I have literally no idea how to even begin putting this together. Can one compare the sublime driving mechanics of Burnout Paradise with the near-perfect shooting mechanics of, say, Destiny? Is Uncharted 4‘s parkour better than Rise of the Tomb Raider? Was anything more hypnotizing than Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2? Can I cheat a little and give a nod to Batman: Arkham Asylum, if only because it did everything so unexpectedly well? Or how about Portal 2, if only because it’s still one of the most clever games ever made? I don’t know that I can answer this question fairly.

Gaming system of choice… well, look: I loved my Sega Dreamcast.

A game everyone should play is Portal 2. It’s funny, it’s accessible, it’s clever, it’s non-violent, and the endorphin rush you get when you solve a tough puzzle is something everyone should experience at least once.

A game I’ve played more than 5 times… again, Portal 2. I suspect that might show up a few more times in this list. It never gets old.

I have a Firewatch wallpaper on my PC, and an Uncharted 4 screenshot on my Mac. And I think I have a Witcher 3 theme on my PS4.

I’m playing a dozen games right now, though I think I’m going to stick to Yakuza 0 for the next few days – I’ll hopefully have a post about it later today. I’ll need to update this answer with a suitable shot.

Game with the best cut scenes… I’m gonna go old school and give this to Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, which had epic cutscenes considering the technology it was on.

Favorite antagonist? GladOs.

Favorite protagonist? How about Raz, from Psychonauts?

Picture of a game setting I wish I lived in… well, I do like Nathan and Elana’s house in Uncharted 4.

Favorite genre: 3rd person action adventure.

Game with the best story… KOTOR.

Game sequel which disappointed me… oh boy. I lovedMercenaries, which was an admitted GTA clone but which still had a ton of cool shit in it. Mercenaries 2, on the other hand, was a broken piece of shit. Similarly, Crackdown 2 was also a broken piece of shit.

Best graphics or art style… as with all things, this is subjective and can be approached in a number of different ways. Uncharted 4 is the most astounding game I’ve ever seen from a technical standpoint, but Psychonauts has the most inventive art style I’ve ever seen… and stuff like Journey and Inside shouldn’t be ignored, either.

Favorite classic game… I wonder what the creator of this list considers “classic”, or what their cut-off year is. I mean, I love me some OutRun. I love me some Streets of Rage and NBA Jam. I remember being spooked out of my mind by Haunted House on the 2600.

A game I plan on playing… I can give you two definites as of today: Mass Effect Andromeda and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Best voice acting… this is Portal 2, hands down, no question.

Most “epic” scene ever… guh, I don’t know. Again, I suppose if I’d played Final Fantasy 5-9 back in the day, I’d have more of a satisfactory answer. I maintain that the big twist of KOTOR remains the biggest jaw-dropping moment of my entire game-playing life.

Favorite game developer is a tie between Rockstar, Bioware, and DoubleFine.

A game I thought I wouldn’t like but ended up loving… I’m gonna cheat a little here and say that I rented one of the early Tiger Woods games on the original Xbox out of boredom and ended up being obsessed with the franchise for the next 10 years.

Favorite game of all time… goddamn, this is tough. But I suspect I’m gonna have to go back to Portal 2.